Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana has introduced a resolution proposing the first week of April 2010 as Asbestos Awareness Week to improve public understanding of the dangers of asbestos exposure and prevalence of asbestos-related disease.Nearly 300 people in the small community of Libby, Montana have died of asbestos-related disease linked to a former W.R. Grace mine and mill that operated from 1963 to 1980. Earlier this year, federal environmental regulators declared a public health emergency in Libby because of the widespread asbestos exposure.
For decades, asbestos was widely used in building materials and insulation. But inhaling the microscopic fibers can cause mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen, and other serious illnesses. About 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States.
“There are too many good folks still suffering from asbestos-related disease and contamination in Montana and across the United States", Baucus said in a statement. “Asbestos Awareness Week provides a perfect opportunity to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos and the need to keep fighting for the victims of asbestos-related disease.
The Senate resolution says that thousands of workers in the U.S. face significant asbestos exposure, thousands of people die from asbestos-related diseases every year and a significant percentage of asbestos disease victims were exposed to asbestos on naval ships and in shipyards while serving the country.
Senate resolution 427 urges the Surgeon General to warn and educate people about the public health hazard of asbestos exposure. The World Health Organization, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Surgeon General all say there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos, the resolution states.
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Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 7:21 PM
Monday, February 22, 2010
Physicians in Great Britain and the U.S. are conducting an initial trial on a new drug that could help mesothelioma patients. The trial involves a drug called LDE 225 manufactured by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. One of the locations where the drug trial is being conducted is the Leicester Royal Infirmary in Leicester, England. Dr. Anne Thomas, a consultant oncologist at Leicester’s hospitals, told the Leicester Mercury newspaper that the new drug works by targeting cancer cells by inhibiting proteins that cancer cell rely on to grow and divide. About 40 patients will be recruited for the first round of testing on humans.
One of the recruits, Bernard Dean, 61 of Derbyshire, told the newspaper that he hoped the eight tablets a day he is taking will halt the growth of three tumors in his lungs. A father of two and a joiner by trade, Dean was diagnosed with mesothelioma a year ago from breathing asbestos. He was diagnosed after going to the doctor with what he thought was a bad cold.
Dean had to stop chemotherapy after four sessions because it was making him too ill and doctors in Nottingham said they could not operate on the tumors.
“ I know it’s the first time the drug has been used outside the laboratory, but I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity go,” Dean said. “If it buys me a few more months or a few more years, it has to be worth it.
Other locations where mesothelioma patients are being recruited for the drug trial are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, Texas and the Novartis Investigative Site in Planta Baja, Spain.
If all goes well with the phase I trial for LDE 225, there will be two more rounds of testing with larger groups of patients. Dr. Thomas said it would be at least five years before the drug is widely available.
Click for contact information about the drug trials
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Labels: Mesothelioma, Research
posted by Wade Rawlins at 2:53 PM
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Kentucky Senate unanimously approved a piece of legislation Wednesday designating Sept. 26 of each year as Mesothelioma Awareness Day throughout the Commonwealth. The bill, which now moves to the House for consideration, directs the Governor to proclaim Sept. 26 of each year as a day to recognize Mesothelioma and to encourage Kentuckians to support research into effective treatments and early detection methods. Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer closely associated with asbestos exposure
If the House passes the bill, Kentucky would join a number of states that have designated Sept. 26 as Mesothelioma Awareness Day. The date was chosen because it is the wedding anniversary of a Pennsylvania widow who spent many hours making others aware of the disease that claimed her husband’s life.
New York lawyer Joseph Belluck, who represents victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, praised the vote by the Kentucky Senate and said he hoped the House would pass the bill without delay.
“For too many years, industrial workers including miners and railroad workers in Kentucky and shipbuilders in Virginia, were exposed to asbestos and weren’t informed of the risks,” said Belluck, a partner in Belluck & Fox, a firm nationally-known for asbestos litigation. “Many workers exposed to asbestos in the 1950s and 1960s are still being diagnosed with this terrible disease.”
Learn more about Mesothelioma
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Labels: Mesothelioma, National News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 10:29 PM
Monday, February 1, 2010
Italian researchers found an elevated incidence of mesothelioma in a study of more than 1,000 miners who worked at an asbestos mine near Turin, Italy. Their findings were reported in the scientific journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.The Balangero mine, located near Turin, Italy, used to be Europe’s largest open pit asbestos mine. By the 1970s, the mine produced 130,000 to 160,000 tons per year of chrysotile asbestos. It closed in 1990, two years before Italy banned the mining, marketing and use of all types of asbestos because of the human health hazards.
Medical researchers have been tracking the mine’s former workers to understand better the long-term health effects of breathing asbestos dust. Asbestos-related diseases such as malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen closely linked to inhaling asbestos fibers, typically don't appear until decades after exposure.
In the 2009 study in the scientific journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers from four Italian medical institutions reported a significantly higher than expected death rate from pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma among the Balangero miners. All of the cases of mesothelioma occurred more than 30 years after exposure, and two occurred more than 50 years later. Four of the five cases involved miners exposed to asbestos dust for more than 20 years.
The study expands on earlier published research that found an increased risk of oral, laryngeal and pleural cancers among the Balangero asbestos miners, based on health information and mortality data through 1987. The new research tracks 1,056 miners for 16 additional years —through 2003.
The researchers computed expected mortality rates from certain cancers and other causes of death in the province of Turin and throughout Italy. They then compared the expected rates to the actual mortality among the workers employed at the mines starting in 1946 and later. They found four times as many deaths from pleural mesothelioma as expected and increased mortality for pleural and peritoneal cancer combined.
The study also supports a recent conclusion by the U.S. Institute of Medicine that there is sufficient evidence to support an association between asbestos and laryngeal cancer. The study found a greater than 80 percent increased number of deaths from larynegeal cancer above the norm.
Overall, the researchers found excess mortality among the Balangero mine workers from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis as well as other alcohol-related conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver.
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Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:08 AM
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Environmental regulators are working to stabilize stream banks near an asbestos disposal site in Ambler, Pennsylvania, to prevent asbestos-containing materials from posing a health risk to the community.The ongoing activity is occurring along Wissahickon Creek, Rose Valley Creek and Tannery Run near a 32-acre site used for decades to dispose of asbestos-containing material from a nearby asbestos manufacturing plant.
Federal environmental regulators recently put the BoRit site, as it is called, on the list of polluted lands eligible for cleanup under the federal Superfund program. The BoRit site includes an asbestos waste pile owned by Kane-Core, Inc.; a reservoir owned by the Wissahickon Waterfowl Preserve and a former playground owned by Whitpain Township.
EPA investigators say there is no evidence from testing that people are currently being exposed to asbestos. But it’s a densely populated area near Philadelphia, and residents could potentially be exposed to airborne asbestos if it is left uncontrolled. Investigators say that people may have been exposed to inhaling asbestos fibers when the asbestos manufacturing plant was still in operation. Asbestos manufacturing occurred near the site from the 1930s through the late 1980s. When inhaled, asbestos fibers can lodge in the lung and cause serious respiratory disease such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.
Health investigators with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and federal Centers for Disease Control did a study of cancer incidence in communities near the BoRit site. They found an elevated rate of mesothelioma, a rare cancer closely linked to asbestos exposure, in three zip codes closest to the BoRit site when compared to the rest of Pennsylvania. But they said the difference was not statistically significant.
Investigators said the cases of mesothelioma were most likely caused by exposures that occurred in the past when asbestos facilities were operating and exposing workers and their families. According to federal mortality statistics, Pennsylvania ranked 16th in the nation in mesothelioma deaths. Five Pennsylvania counties with the highest number of mesothelioma deaths included Montgomery County, where the BoRit site is located, adjoining Philadelphia and Chester counties, and York and Northhampton counties.
From the early 1900s to the late 1980s, the BoRit area was used to dispose of asbestos waste form the former Keasby and Mattison Company, Certainteed Corporation and Nicolet Industries, state and federal investigators say. The industries produced asbestos products ranging from electrical insulation to brake lining as well as piping, roofing shingles and laboratory tabletops
The waste pile, which contains an estimated 149,500 cubic yards, covers about six acres. The berm of the 15-acre reservoir was constructed of asbestos shingles and millboard. Other asbestos waste such as piping and tiles is visible around the reservoir and three other water bodies.
Workers are removing asbestos containing materials from the stream bank and installing concrete cable mats to prevent erosion from exposing more material.
For more Information about Mesothelioma, click here
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Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, National News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 12:24 PM
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
In the United Kingdom, more 2,000 people die a year of mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos exposure. The numbers have been trending steeply upward since the 1960s, according to Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive.Asbestos-related disease exacts a steep cost in terms of lives lost, pain and suffering by Mesothelioma patients and their families and asbestos-related insurance costs. With more awareness and publicity about mesothelioma a greater proportion of asbestos-disease sufferers are filing claims against their employer after their diagnosis of cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen.
A new actuarial study doubles the projected asbestos-related insurance claims that the UK insurance industry will pay to about £11 billion ($17.8 billion) through 2050. The previous estimate of claims cost made in 2004 was £4.7 billion ($7.6 billion), but that only covered the period to 2040. The increase in the insurance market estimate was driven primarily by a near doubling of the observed number of mesothelioma claims since 2004.
The study was compiled by the UK Asbestos Working Party, part of Actuarial Professional, an organization representing the actuary industry.
The number of insurance claims has been increasing faster than the rate of mesothelioma deaths in Britain, the report said. In the past, about one-third of asbestos-related deaths resulted in insurance claims, but now nearly two-thirds of asbestos victims make claims. Still, there is uncertainty about the number of people who will be diagnosed with mesothelioma in future decades, making the projections less reliable in the outlying years.
The study noted that mesothelioma claims accounted for more than 90 percent of the United Kingdom’s asbestos-related claims cost.
The wide use of asbestos and its danger to human health have had and will continue to have profound consequences.
Link to UK Asbestos Working Party Actuarial Study
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Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 3:49 PM
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Researchers say they’ve achieved some success at extending the lives of patients suffering from peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the abdomen, with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy.In the December 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers at eight medical research universities in the U.S., Italy, France, Germany, and Australia reported that of 405 patients treated for peritoneal mesothelioma, the overall median survival rate was 53 months, and 47 percent of the patients were alive after five years.
Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Patients usually don't experience symptoms until 30 years or longer after exposure to asbestos.
Doctors treated most of the patients with a combination of surgery to remove cancerous tumors from the lining of the abdomen and a procedure called hyperthermic interperitoneal chemotherapy. After removal of visible tumors, the patient’s abdominal cavity was bathed for several hours in a heated chemotherapy solution to treat remaining cancer cells while the patient was in the operating room.
The high temperature of the chemotherapy solution has been found to increase its therapeutic effect. Both heat and direct contact with chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells. Clinical studies have shown the hyperthermic interperitoneal chemotherapy to be more effective than surgery alone in treating gastrointestinal cancers that have spread to the abdomen. It can also help reduce pain.
Of the patients whose treatments were analyzed in the study, 372 patients or about 92 percent received hyperthermic interperitoneal chemotherapy. Researchers followed up with the patients on average about two and half to three years after their surgery.
Nine patients had died following the surgery. Sixty percent of the patients were still alive three years after surgery and 47 percent were alive after five years. Of those 187 patients had complete or near complete removal of cancerous tumors.
,
The researchers said that several factors appeared to be associated with the improved survival rate, including the absence of cancer having spread to the lymph nodes, the completeness of the tumor removal and the chemotherapy treatment.
The researchers said their data suggested that surgery to remove mesothelioma tumors in the abdomen combined with the chemotheraphy prolonged survival in selected patients.
Link to Journal article
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Labels: Mesothelioma, Research
posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:01 AM
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A second surgery to treat a recurrence of malignant mesothelioma in the lining of the lung is not necessarily effective in helping patients live longer, Italian researchers say, based on a small study described in the January 2010 edition of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a medical journal.The researchers, Dr. Leonardo Politi of the University of Florence, and Dr. Giuseppe Borzelleno of the University of Verona, examined the cases of 74 mesothelioma patients who underwent surgery over 20 years to remove a diseased lung as well the membrane tissue covering the lung and heart, and diaphragm muscle. The procedure is called an extrapleural pneumonectomy.
The researchers said that of 57 patients for whom there was follow-up medical information, 11 patients experienced a recurrence of mesothelioma a year-and-a-half to 12 years after the initial surgery. Of these, eight patients were in good enough health to undergo a second surgery in which additional diseased tissue was removed.
The length that the patients survived after their second surgery ranged from six months to 29 months with the median survival rate 14.5 months.
The researchers conclude that in the cases examined, the second surgery did not offer the expected curative benefits. They said the procedure should be considered a remedy that temporarily relieved a patient’s pain, but didn’t provide a cure. They argue that a second surgery should be considered an option for a select group of malignant mesothelioma patients who cannot undergo additional radiation therapy.
In an accompanying commentary, Dr. David Rice, director of the Mesothelioma Program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, writes that partial removal of malignant tumors to manage malignant pleural mesothelioma remains controversial surgery. Rice said that extrapleural pneumonectomies generally provided a more complete removal of tumors than simply removing the lining of the lung. Still he acknowledged that patients who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomies did not appear to survive longer than patients who underwent less radical surgeries.
Journal Article
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Labels: Featured News, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 2:00 PM
Friday, November 20, 2009
A recent opinion piece by a retired University of North Carolina geologist published in The News & Observer newspaper in Raleigh, N.C. espousing the industrial merits of chrysotile asbestos drew a critical rebuttal today from health researchers.In a letter to the editor, John Dement, a professor at Duke University Medical Center who has published research on the health effects of asbestos, and David P. Brown, director of Health Sciences Research at SRA International, a provider of health consulting services, say that retired UNC Prof. John J.W. Rogers’ article grossly underrepresented the human health risks associated with exposure to chrysotile asbestos. The researchers note that the National Toxicology Program, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have established chrysotile asbestos as a known human carcinogen.
In his Nov. 12 opinion piece, Rogers contended that asbestos was the victim of a scare campaign by groups seeking to make the mineral more a problem than it really is. Its positive attributes include that asbestos is inflammable, has good insulating properties and adds strength to products as diverse as plastics and cement. Rogers argued that chrysotile was safer than the other main mineral form of asbestos, amphibole, and could continue to be used safely by industries.
While there is some scientific debate about the relative risks of mesothelioma from the various forms of asbestos, the World Health Organization recently affirmed that all forms of asbestos cause cancers of the lung, larynx, ovary as well as mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen. The WHO estimates that 90,000 people a year die of asbestos-related disease and called for a ban on all forms of asbestos. To date, 43 countries have enacted bans.
Dement and Brown write that appropriate substitute materials are now available for asbestos, including chrysotile, precluding the need to continue using it for industrial purposes.
“We see no need to further the legacy of asbestos-related diseases in the U.S. and worldwide through the continued use of chrysotile and other forms of asbestos,” Dement and Brown say. “Elimination of asbestos exposure is not ‘reverse greenwash’—it is sound public health policy.”
Link to Rogers’ opinion piece:
Letter to the Editor:
Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, National News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 1:47 PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
By Wade RawlinsMuch remains to be learned about environmental exposure to asbestos and the incidence of mesothelioma among people who have only "second hand" exposure such as families of asbestos workers or people who live near asbestos plants. That is a focus of new research in Libby, Montana where vermiculite ore tainted with asbestos has caused a high rate of asbestos-related disease. It's also the subject of recently completed research from Egypt.
A study published by researchers in Egypt earlier this year examined environmental exposure to asbestos near Cairo, Egypt and the link to malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the lungs. The study appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, a publication of the World Health Organization.
The prevalence of mesothelioma, an incurable cancer, has been increasing throughout the industrialized world with the incidence predicted to peak around 2020, the study said. A number of studies have linked exposure to airborne asbestos fibers in the workplace to increased incidence of mesothelioma among workers employed in mining, textile manufacturing, insulation and asbestos cement factories. Families of asbestos workers and those living near asbestos mines and mills also are at increased risk of mesothelioma from environmental exposure, studies suggest.
The Egyptian researchers focused their study on Shubra El-Kheima, an industrial city at the northern edge of Cairo. For decades starting in 1948, the city had a large manufacturing plant that used chrysotile asbestos to make asbestos cement pipe and reinforced concrete products. In 2004, the Egyptian government decided to ban imports of asbestos and the plant closed.
While the plant was still operating full scale, the researchers obtained air samples inside the plant and in neighborhoods up to about 2 miles away. That allowed the researchers to calculate more precisely the amount of asbestos fibers that workers and residents were inhaling and then to estimate the relationship between levels of exposure and rates of mesothelioma.
Researchers did health screenings including x-rays on 487 workers in the plant and on 2,913 residents living in six communities in the vicinity of the plant. They found that about 3 percent of people exposed to asbestos living near the plant had malignant mesothelioma while about 1 percent of the workers did. Both rates exceed the norm. (Because mesothelioma takes 30 to 40 years to appear, it’s not surprising that the number of workers at the plant with the disease was not larger.)
Researchers said a significant finding of the study was that people exposed to asbestos in the environment were at 26 times greater risk of developing mesothelioma than people in a more distant neighborhood, who had no known environmental asbestos exposure nearby.
The community of El-Wehda El-Arabia, directly downwind of the plant, had the highest concentration of asbestos fibers in air samples and also had the highest incidence of mesothelioma among residents of the six communities studied, the researchers found. Thirty-nine residents had malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Researchers also found a correlation between length of exposure to asbestos and rates of mesothelioma. The more years residents were exposed to asbestos, the greater the likelihood of having the disease with a significant increase for those with 40 years or more of exposure. More than 60 percent of the residents with mesothelioma were women, the researchers. They attributed that to their long residence in the area.
The researchers said the study had an important message: the mesothelioma threat will remain for years to come and doctors should look for early signs of mesothelioma in people who had had environmental exposure to mesothelioma.
Read the study
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Labels: Asbestos, Featured News, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 5:16 PM
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
By Wade RawlinsAsbestos is among the most thoroughly investigated of any workplace health hazard. Yet, certain questions still intrigue researchers including the relative potencies of different types of asbestos, the role of fiber size in determining toxicity and the workplace hazards of unregulated mineral fibers that mimic asbestos. But should these questions be a barrier to a national ban on asbestos use?
Researchers at the University of Washington, the U.S. Public Health Service and the Center for Construction Research and Training, argue in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, that unanswered questions about asbestos should not stand in the way of more protective occupational health policy.
Along those lines, the researchers say the most important health priority regarding the six forms of asbestos regulated by federal workplace safety authorities is—simply put— to ban their production and use. Policy makers often must act in the face of uncertainties to safeguard public health, they say
“There is ample reason to do this without waiting for more evidence on the relative potency of chrysotile versus the five regulated amphibole asbestos minerals,” Dr. Michael A. Silverstein, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington, and his co-authors write.
After all the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer recently reaffirmed its conclusion that all forms of asbestos including chrysotile cause mesothelioma as well as cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary. The World Health Organization has urged a worldwide ban on asbestos. Forty-three countries now have asbestos bans in place.
Waiting for more precise information about potential risks before taking action is essentially making a date with an uncertain future and exposing more workers to asbestos-related disease. The diseases typically don’t appear until decades after exposure.
The researchers note that attempts since the 1970s to develop dependable statistical risk assessment models for asbestos have been repeatedly undercut by limitations on reliable exposure data. The conditions of exposure vary too much and remain difficult to classify.
EPA’s current risk assessment method assumes that all types of asbestos fibers are equally potent for causing lung cancer and mesothelioma. But lobbyists for the asbestos industry have sought to change the model to back their claim that chrysotile asbestos—the most common in use today—is less toxic.
In 2008, EPA's attempt to develop a risk assessment model predicting the relative toxicities for different combinations of asbestos fiber types and dimensions eventually ran aground. EPA’s scientific advisory board recommended that the model be rejected, and EPA administrator agreed that it couldn’t be used as the basis for setting public policy. At the time, Silverstein and more than 80 fellow scientists submitted comments opposing the change, saying there had been no new studies that offered a compelling reason for a new risk assessment.
“The history of asbestos cancer risk assessment illustrates the point that elegant mathematics do not make good public policy,” the researchers write. “Trying to turn fundamentally unreliable data into a valid and reliable output is statistical alchemy, no matter how sophisticated and complex the mathematical models.”
Given the difficulty of distinguishing the toxicity of one type of asbestos fiber from another when all are known to cause cancer, the most health protective course is to err on the side of caution, they say.
The researchers note that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s mandate is to take protective action based on the best available evidence. They cite a 1980 Supreme Court decision that OSHA does not have to calculate the exact probability of harm before acting, and “so long as they are supported by a body of reputable scientific thought, the agency is free to use conservative assumptions in interpreting the data… risking error on the side of over protection rather than under-protection.”
While improving analytic methods and developing more precise understanding of the risk of various types of by asbestos fiber remain valid research pursuits, the researchers say the only way to stop asbestos-related disease is to stop the use of all types of asbestos.
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Labels: Asbestos, Featured News, Mesothelioma, Research
posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:02 AM
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
In the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a new study was published showing that sheet metal workers have an increased risk of dying from mesothelioma. The study which involved 17,345 sheet metal workers confirms that workers with 20 or more years in the industry run a significantly higher risk of dying from the asbestos-related disease.
New York injury attorney, Joe Belluck, of Belluck & Fox, LLP states,"We have represented many sheet metal workers and it is clear, both anecdotally and now through scientific data, they have an increased risk of dying from mesothelioma." Belluck also went to add that it was not surprising that sheet metal workers would be at risk since their job involves using many asbestos-containing materials.
Belluck & Fox, LLP is a New York personal injury law firm that handles many types of work-related injury cases including mesothelioma. The firm has helped numerous victims and their families through their hard times battling mesothelioma.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News, Research
posted by Aaron Phelps at 4:23 PM
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A nurse who is a seven year survivor of mesothelioma will be honored at the 6th Annual Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) Asbestos Disease Awareness Conference in Chicago, Illinois in April, 2010, according to the ADAO website.After her diagnosis of plural mesothelioma in 2002, June Breit, RN, went into action on behalf of making people aware of this deadly asbestos related disease and encouraged the governor of Pennsylvania to implement Mesothelioma Awareness Day in the state.
At first Breit thought she had the flu when she had trouble breathing. When receiving the diagnosis of plural mesothelioma Breit was shocked and bewildered as she had no known occupational exposure to asbestos. Breit was well aware of the prognosis of mesothelioma after having been a nurse for 30 years.
Her treatment included surgery to remove part of her lung, the lining of her lung, and her diaphragm, chemotherapy, and radiation. Breit is an avid swimmer and one of her biggest surprises after her treatment was finding she needed two lungs to float after sinking the first time she tried. That did not stop her, however, as she now uses her granddaughter's noodle when she goes to the pool.
Breit continues her battle to ban asbestos use and devotes time to increase funding for the creation of additional treatment options for patients of mesothelioma.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Patients
posted by Nancy Meredith at 8:10 AM
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A 60-year-old machine shop worker has sued BAE Land Systems for ₤300,000 in damages because he has been diagnosed with mesothelioma - called the industrial lung disease.The plaintiff began working at the Barrow shipyard in 1965 where he spent most of his time working in shops that had asbestos-lined roof and cladding on the walls. He then worked in constructing submarines which confined him in small spaces with other workers who mixed asbestos lagging (a type of insulation) and applied it to the walls. Even after the man was assigned to work in the office, he was frequently in the shop where he was exposed to asbestos dust.
He claims neither respiratory protection nor warnings of the danger of exposure to asbestos dust were provided to him by BAE.
The worker was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in January, 2008, and is now displaying gross symptoms of pain and disability.
Liverpool Worker Diagnosed With Mesothelioma
Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Nancy Meredith at 2:05 PM
The Sun Journal reports a Craven Community College building in New Bern, North Carolina, scheduled to house students on the first day of classes, has closed after asbestos was found in the old floor tile.New Bern's required testing for a permit needed for renovation of buildings uncovered the asbestos. Asbestos was used in construction materials especially in fireproofing, insulation, acoustical materials, and in floor tiles.
Ten full time employees were in the building during the renovations, but testing shows their exposure was minimal. Health problems from asbestos exposure include lung diseases, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, and typically take years to develop.
College employees have been moved out of the building until the building has been professionally cleaned, the asbestos removed, and renovation complete.
The college hopes the building will reopen on or before September 1, 2009.
Asbestos Found in College Building
Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Nancy Meredith at 1:56 PM
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27th, one month after the initial planning meeting, University of Minnesota health researchers began sending letters to both current and former taconite workers, and their families, of Minnesota's Taconite Iron Range mine. The University is enlisting them in a wide-ranging study of mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.The research is being conducted to determine why so many Iron Range workers have been diagnosed, or are dying, from mesothelioma. To date there has been no link between mesothelioma and taconite. However, 52 workers at the mine have been diagnosed with the rare cancer.
A university spokeswoman said the first batch of thousands of letters have been sent to those selected, regardless of their health status, inviting them to participate in the screening program.
$4.9 million was funded by the Legislature last year for the five-year study.
University of Minnesota Researchers Contact Taconite Workers
Iron Range Meeting to Plan Mesothelioma Study
Labels: Mesothelioma, News, Research
posted by Nancy Meredith at 12:10 PM
Monday, July 27, 2009
Paul and Claire Rawlinson from the UK will skydive in memory of their father and to raise money for the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund (MKMRF), reports the North-West Evening News. Paul credits his sister with the idea of a organizing a sponsored skydive. While she's not into participating in extreme sports, he said his sister wanted to do something out of the ordinary to show their commitment to the cause. Paul will fall 3,500 feet in a solo jump and his sister will fall 14,000 feet in a tandem jump. They hope to raise ₤2,000 which is over $3,200 in U. S. currency.
Their father died at the age of 64 of mesothelioma, the deadliest form of lung cancer.
MKMRF raises money to improve awareness about mesothelioma, to fund research for treatment, and to provide support to the people who suffer from this deadly disease.
UK Siblings Skydive for Mesothelioma
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma
posted by Nancy Meredith at 8:29 AM
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology reported that when mesothelioma cells are under stress from heat, they respond with an increased production of heat-shock proteins that "rescue them from death." After disappointing expectations with the use of heated (hyperthermal) chemotherapy, researchers have now discovered that suppressing the release of these heat-responsive proteins in mesothelioma cancer cells can improve the effectiveness of the chemotherapeutic agent.
The study concluded that the inhibition of the stress proteins, Hsp40/Hsp70 or Erk1/2 MAPK, might present a new option to increase the success of hyperthermia in mesothelioma. Most malignant mesothelioma cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, and by that point the cases are highly resistant to chemotherapeutic agents and other available treatments.
Currently, there is no known cure for mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer limiting the amount of new research and funding for the cancer. While this research is promising there remains much more testing to be conducted for mesothelioma therapy.
In the article researchers noted that while it had been predicted that the number of cases of mesothelioma will decline after 2010, recent studies indicate the rate of new malignant mesothelioma cases will continue to rise at a high level for another 10–15 years in Europe and in the United States, while in other countries the rate may even further increase.
Mesothelioma cells escape heat stress
Heat treatment for Mesothelioma
The study concluded that the inhibition of the stress proteins, Hsp40/Hsp70 or Erk1/2 MAPK, might present a new option to increase the success of hyperthermia in mesothelioma. Most malignant mesothelioma cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, and by that point the cases are highly resistant to chemotherapeutic agents and other available treatments.
Currently, there is no known cure for mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer limiting the amount of new research and funding for the cancer. While this research is promising there remains much more testing to be conducted for mesothelioma therapy.
In the article researchers noted that while it had been predicted that the number of cases of mesothelioma will decline after 2010, recent studies indicate the rate of new malignant mesothelioma cases will continue to rise at a high level for another 10–15 years in Europe and in the United States, while in other countries the rate may even further increase.
Mesothelioma cells escape heat stress
Heat treatment for Mesothelioma
Labels: Mesothelioma, Research, Treatments
posted by Nancy Meredith at 9:48 PM
By Wade RawlinsThe case of a Michigan school librarian suggests that the definition of asbestos should be broadened, researchers say. In a paper published in the July issue of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dr. Michael R. Harbut and colleagues report on treating a 55-year-old woman who suffers from a stabbing chest pain, has scar tissue on her lungs and other symptoms that meet the classic definition of asbestosis. A scarring of the lungs, asbestosis is typically associated with inhaling asbestos fibers.
The woman, whose name the researchers withheld for medical privacy, has been treated at the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
She has experienced pain in the right side of her chest for years. It began as soreness and has progressed to a knife-like pain. She had begun requiring narcotics to handle the pain in recent years. She continues to work as a school librarian in the taconite mining region of Michigan.
The researchers say the most likely cause of the woman’s ailments was dust from taconite mining that her father brought home on his clothes from the mine, when she was a child. He worked as a miner from 1962 to 1969.
Taconite is a rock rich in silica that is used in the production of steel and as a road-patch material. It is mined in Michigan and Minnesota.
The United States government doesn’t classify taconite as asbestos or asbestiform material. But it has been associated with asbestos-related diseases.
“The identification of a material which has not been categorized as asbestos, but causes a disease consistent with asbestosis, requires a reevaluation of the definition of asbestos,” said Mark Harbut, M.D., co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers and his colleagues. “This is especially important within the context of legislative efforts to prohibit the use of asbestos.
The researchers say their findings support previous reports that dusts produced by taconite mining can cause the same health problems as other fibers already defined as asbestos.
Currently, the Minnesota Department of Health is conducting a study of the cause of more than 48 cases of mesothelioma linked with mining in northeastern Minnesota.
The case suggests that the definition of asbestos should be broadened, they say.
“The question is logically asked, ‘What is asbestos?’” the researchers write. “The most honest answer is, ‘A fiber which causes asbestosis.’”
Labels: Featured News, Mesothelioma
posted by Wade Rawlins at 10:20 AM
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
By WADE RAWLINSThe former owner of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine and mill in the U.S. has reached a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to address contamination caused by the former operation.
Under terms of the consent decree, G-I Holdings Inc., formerly known as GAF Corp., will take steps immediately to fence and secure the 1,673-acre abandoned mine and mill site near Lowell, Vermont.
The site has two towering piles of mine and mill waste that are eroding and polluting downstream surface waters, say attorneys with the Department of Justice.
The piles also attract hikers, rock collectors and ATV enthusiasts and may expose people who visit the site to particles of airborne asbestos, Justice officials say. Inhaling asbestos fibers can cause serious respiratory problems and forms of cancer.
G-I Holdings will provide onsite surveillance and will monitor air emissions from the piles and conduct dust suppression if necessary and provide support to EPA and Vermont for future monitoring. The work will be carried out over eight years and G-I will spend up to $7.75 million.
G-I, which has been under bankruptcy protection since 2001, will reimburse the federal government and Vermont a portion of the estimated $300 million for past and future clean-up costs and off site contamination. G-I will pay up to $25.8 million of the cleanup costs. The company also will pay $850,000 for damages to local wetlands and streams.
“The cornerstone of this settlement is that G-I is responsible for completing extensive work at the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site, focusing on site security, air monitoring and investigating and sampling certain mine tailings,” John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement. “G-I will also pay for its share of cleanup costs for this site and nine other contaminated sites around the country.”
The federal government sued G-I in 2008, asking the court to order the company to take immediate action to address pollution that could pose an imminent threat to public health.
Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, G-I Holdings and its subsidiary Building Materials Corporation of America make roofing materials such as flashing, vents and shingles. The company has operated under bankruptcy protection since 2001.
The Vermont site is the most significant of 13 contaminated industrial sites covered by the settlement. G-I will contribute $104,615 as its share of cleanup costs to resolve federal claims where its predecessors disposed of hazardous waste.
In addition, the federal government has up to 10 years to bring claims for cleanup costs and environmental damage at three related heavily-contaminated industrial sites in New York and New Jersey —the GAF Chemical site, the LCP Chemicals Inc Superfund site and the Diamond Alkali Superfund site – referred to collectively as the Linden sites.
The consent decree was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.
Chrysotile asbestos is one of two general types of asbestos and the most common found in products in the United States. For example, the asbestos fibers detected in the samples taken at the World Trade Center site were chrysotile asbestos.
U.S. Department of Justice Release
Labels: Featured News, Mesothelioma
posted by Your Attorney at 10:39 PM
Thursday, June 25, 2009
52 miners working at Minnesota’s Iron Range have been found to have mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. Mesothelioma has been traditionally associated with asbestos exposure; however, there is no known asbestos in the iron ore deposit. When asbestos fibers become airborne, they are breathed into the lungs where serious illness can develop up to 40 years after exposure. The Minnesota Department of Health will be conducting studies on the miners to determine if they have been exposed to asbestos at any time in their lives, prior to working at Iron Range. Some of the mine workers believe that the taconite dust in the mines is the cause of their illness. No studies to date have proven that mesothelioma can be caused by airborne particles other than asbestos.
Mine officials want to know whether iron ore mining can be linked to mesothelioma. The company is planning an expansion at its Northshore mine, and they want answers so they can move forward with the plan. The mining representatives support the health study, but they don't believe the taconite dust is dangerous.
A meeting will be held June 25th as the next step in the effort to determine the cause of the high rate of mesothelioma in the Iron Range workers. The meeting will lay out the plans for conducting a major survey of taconite workers' lung health. Participants will get an x-ray, blood test, and breathing test. The study gets underway this summer.
Taconite Potential Cause of Mesothelioma
Iron Range Study Underway
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, National News, Research
posted by Nancy Meredith at 3:14 PM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Federal officials have declared a public health emergency in a Montana town heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that has been blamed for 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.Lisa Jackson, an administrator with the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency will spend $125 million over the next five years for a home-by-home clean-up in the town of Libby, Mont.
Asbestos contamination came from a vermiculite mine near Libby that opened in 1919 but is now closed. Vermiculite was often used in insulation but the mineral was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a toxic form of asbestos that has been linked to mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the lining around the lungs, stomach or heart. There is no known cure.
Miners apparently carried asbestos home on their clothes, where family members also inhaled the deadly fibers. Vermiculite was once used as ground cover on the track at a Libby school and was also used by some residents as garden mulch.
Libby, Mont. Public Health Emergency
Labels: Mesothelioma, National News, News
posted by Your Attorney at 4:21 PM
Asbestos exposure has been associated to the risk of developing many diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. While the dangers of this substance have been known since the early 1920's, the United States has not yet totally banned its use.Michelle J. White, an economics professor at UC San Diego, stated in her study “Asbestos and the Future of Mass Torts,” that claims for injuries from asbestos "involve more plaintiffs, more defendants and higher costs than any other type of personal injury litigation in U.S. history."
Although it can take up to 40 years after initial exposure of asbestos for a person to exhibit symptoms of asbestos-related cancer such as mesothelioma, which affects the membranes lining the abdomen or lungs, the patient and their family can often tie the exposure to a specific job.
Victims of asbestos-related diseases can bring suit against the companies or manufacturers of products, and the awards often run into the millions. Much of the award is attributed to the pain and suffering associated with the disease.
While the EPA proposed a ban on asbestos use in 1989 it was overturned by a federal circuit court of appeals in 1991. The Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 was proposed but never signed into law. The most current ban proposal is the Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008.
Asbestos Not Banned in U.S.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma
posted by Nancy Meredith at 8:29 AM
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Two Washington County, Maryland public schools are undergoing asbestos removal as part of the summer renovation projects. Asbestos is classified by the EPA as a known cancer-causing material requiring specially trained and licensed asbestos abatement workers to conduct site decontamination.At both Fountaindale Elementary School and E. Russell Hicks Middle School the work is being done by licensed crews in compliance with all federal and state laws. Air samples are tested periodically to ensure the air is clean from airborne asbestos fibers.
Fountaindale Elementary was built in 1949 and the asbestos was found in the glazing compound and caulking on the old windows. The asbestos content there is relatively small and is not in a friable, or easily crumbled form, with the cleanup cost estimated at $24,360.
At E. Russell Hicks Middle School the project will cost approximately $21,000. Built in 1967 asbestos was found as part of a fireproofing insulation on the roof deck above the ceiling tiles.
Washington County Public Schools has an asbestos management plan which the public can view by contacting the facilities management office.
Washington County Asbestos Cleanup
Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Nancy Meredith at 2:52 PM
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A long-running British study monitoring mortality among asbestos workers in occupations exposed to asbestos reconfirmed the link between asbestos exposure and mortality from lung, peritoneal and pleural cancer and mesothelioma, Great Britain's Health & Safety Laboratory reported.Health & Safety Laboratory Report
Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Your Attorney at 10:16 AM
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Montana Sen. Jon Testor asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to team up with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to work together to clean up asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana and make the community safe again. More than 200 residents of Libby have died and thousands more are still suffering from asbestos diseases. Residents were poisoned by asbestos from a now-defunct vermiculite mine, and the entire community of Libby is now an EPA Superfund site.Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Aaron Phelps at 10:05 AM
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The Patchogue-Medford school board in Long Island, New York agreed to hire three environmental firms to test air quality in district schools in response to allegations of asbestos contamination which has caused a drop in school enrollment, Newsday reports. The school board also authorized an investigation of a resident who acknowledged taking samples of insulation possibly containing asbestos from heating pipes in the district’s Eagle Elementary School.More Information
Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, News, Patients
posted by Aaron Phelps at 12:03 AM
Friday, May 29, 2009
The annual International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma is now less than a month away. An annual symposium organized by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, a charitable organization, will bring together international experts in asbestos-related cancers. patients and caregivers June 25-27 in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest advances in mesothelioma research.For more information on reserving your spot for one of the largest events concerning mesothelioma, its treatment, and the people involved, please visit the MARF website for
more information.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, National News, Patients, Treatments
posted by Aaron Phelps at 11:50 PM
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Exposure to asbestos -- long associated with cancers of the lungs -- has been shown to cause some cancers of the ovary and the larynx as well, Cancer Research UK reports. An international team of World Health Organization scientists writing in the journal Lancet Oncology said that people who have been exposed to asbestos are 1.4 times more likely to develop cancer of the larynx than those who had never been exposed.
Dr. Alison Ross, Cancer Research UK's senior science information officer said, "We already know asbestos can cause lung cancer and mesothelioma and this adds two more cancer types to the list."
Cancer Research UK Report
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Headline News, Mesothelioma, National News, Research
posted by Your Attorney at 5:09 PM
Friday, May 22, 2009
NeoPlas Innovation, a clinical cancer treatment and research firm located in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced that a combination of the cholesterol medicine lovastatin and a low-dose of interferon has shown favorable results in fighting mesothelioma. The patient was a woman who was exposed to asbestos in childhood. When she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, it had already filled most of the chest space where her right lung had been. According to NeoPlast, two months after starting treatments, a CT scan showed that the cancer had stabilized and the largest of the tumors had regressed significantly in size.
It's still too early to draw full conclusions on the treatment because the testing is still in the early phases with only one patient so far.
NeoPlas is still accepting patients for the combination treatment.
For more breaking news on mesothelioma treatment, general information, and forum discussions, please visit Mesotheliomahelp.net.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients, Treatments
posted by Aaron Phelps at 9:41 AM
Monday, May 18, 2009
Eli Lilly and Company will reveal the data from their latest research findings involving their mesothelioma and cancer treatment drugs, Alimta, Gemzar, and enzastaurin, an investigational drug. These studies are among more than 50 to be unveiled at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Orlando, FL. The results will reveal the effectiveness of these drugs in treating mesothelioma, especially in patients who cannot undergo surgery. Alimta has been approved the FDA in combination for cisplatin (chemotherapy drug) for the initial treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Gemzar is used along with cisplatin for first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC for whom surgery isn't possible. It is also used to treat patients with pancreatic cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.
The studies will be presented at ASCO from May 29th to June 2nd 2009.
For more information on mesothelioma, please visit Mesothelioma Help.net.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients, Treatments
posted by Aaron Phelps at 11:07 AM
Friday, May 15, 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has stated that he will make great efforts to alleviate Britain's asbestos problem, especially in the plagued school systems. PM Brown is no stranger to the devastating effects of asbestos exposure. In 2008, Brown lost his friend Scottish Member of Parliament John MacDougall to mesothelioma.Advocates for asbestos removal have stated their praise of the PM's words and many believe that he will take his promise to heart because he has personally experienced the pain of mesothelioma.
It will be a great boon for the mesothelioma community if Brown continues to make pushes for asbestos removal. It could mean more funding for mesothelioma and cancer research in Britain as well as continued global awareness.
For more information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, please visit mesotheliomahelp.net.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Aaron Phelps at 10:41 AM
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
With all the buzz in the media about the recent Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic, it's easy to think that the disease is right around every corner.While that may not be the case, it is still very important for mesothelioma patients to take precautions and to monitor their health closely. Radiation and chemotherapy that many cancer patients receive can weaken the immune system and make them more susceptible to diseases such as the H1N1 virus.
If you are a mesothelioma patient, like all other cancer patients, one thing that you've learned is survival. You have most likely been told by doctors that the number one step to fighting a disease is prevention and with the H1N1 virus, the rules are no different. While you're undergoing treatments, make sure to avoid large crowds of people and attempt to stay away from anyone with a fever or other flu symptoms. Remember that good hygiene is very important. Washing your hands before eating or touching your mouth, nose, or eyes can help to prevent the spread of the disease. If you have to come in contact with someone who has symptoms, make sure that they take precations such as a respirator or facemask.
For caregivers, if you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms or if you believe you have come in contact with the H1N1 virus, it is best to avoid contact with your patient. If possible, find another trusted caregiver or friend to help you with your role of care. If it is absolutely necessary for you to come in contact with your patient, make sure to use a respirator, not a cheap face mask, as they do not provide the same amount of protection. Also, make sure your hands are sanitized and that you limit the amount of close contact to the minimum amount of time needed to perform your duties.
Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of regular flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. If you believe that you have been exposed or are showing any of flu-like symptoms, contact your doctor.
Visit our website for more information on mesothelioma and patient care.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients
posted by Aaron Phelps at 11:49 PM
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Bishop of Peterborough, Rt Revd Ian Cundy, died on May 7th, 2009 after a two-year battle with mesothelioma.Bishop Cundy, 64, had recently announced his plans to take an early retirement in July after his chemotherapy treatments had failed to stop the spread of the cancer. No cure for mesothelioma currently exists, but it has been proven that some multimodal treatments that combine traditional cancer treatments, such as surgery along with chemotherapy or radiation, can help to reduce the cancer and slow the spread.
Bishop Cundy was well loved and received in the UK, having been appointed in 1996. He is survived by his wife Jo, three children, and a grandson.
Bishop Frank White will assume the duties of diocesan bishop until a new appointment is made. According to Bishop White,"Bishop Ian was greatly loved in the diocese and around the country for his gentle manner, his warm acceptance of people from all walks of life and all denominations of and traditions within the Christian Church, and for his wise and perceptive counsel."
Once again it has been desmonstrated that mesothelioma affects men, women, and children of every walk of life and that the dangers of asbestos exposure apply not only to the blue collar working man as once believed.
Please visit Mesothelioma Help.net for more information on mesothelioma and new treatment options that are becoming available to combat this deadly disease.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Aaron Phelps at 4:46 PM
Thursday, May 7, 2009
President Barack Obama has proposed nearly a 30% increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). $10.4 billion of the $787 billion stimulus fund can find its way to different medical research scientists across the country.The prospect of this increase in spending has members of the medical research community scrambling to apply for to the NIH for funding for everything from new facilities to increased man power. The NIH is the largest provider of grant money for colleges, universities, and medical research companies in the U.S.
The University of Chicago alone has filed nearly 200 individual applications for increased research funding. Martha O'Connel, a university spokesperson said that the amount requested by the university is almost five times their yearly submission. The university is requesting funds that would be used to study lung tumors, breast cancer, and mesothelioma.
Other organizations are seeking funding to increase research ways to safely test HIV vaccines before they are given to humans.
This increase in spending for the NIH keeps in line with President Obama's desire for health reform. In the past he has announced to seek out a cure for cancer in our time and he officially declared April as National Cancer Control Month. If this trend continues, funding for cancer cures and prevention may continue to see an increase.
For more information on mesothelioma and treatment research, please visit Mesothelioma Help.net.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients, Treatments
posted by Aaron Phelps at 11:01 PM
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
According to the May 6th Journal of the National Cancer institute, a 4-gene expression ratio test accurately predicts survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.The study performed by researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital, involved 120 patients undergoing surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Multiple samples were gathered either during surgery or through pleural biopsy. Researchers evaluated the test on multiple tumor samples from each patient and used two different gene samples and two different biopsy techniques.
The results were adjusted for other clinical factors and coupled with other mesothelioma prognosis information and patients were categorized into two groups. Patients assigned by the test to the good outcome group had significantly better median overall survival, 31.9 months, compared to the poor outcome group, 6.9 months.
It is hoped that this test will help doctors better determine a prognosis for patients. Patients who have a shorter life-expectancy can be counseled away from surgeries that would not benefit them or their families and allow them time seek hospice or other supportive care. For patients with a higher expectancy, doctors could help them to arrange for more long term treatments and surgeries.
Additional information about mesothelioma research and ongoing studies may be found at Mesothelioma Help.net.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients, Treatments
posted by Aaron Phelps at 5:49 PM
Friday, May 1, 2009
The National Workers Memorial, a memorial dedicated to workers who lose their lives due to work-related injuries or illness, broke ground on April 28, 2009 in the center of the National Labor College campus in Silver Spring, Maryland (MD).The memorial will be circular in design and surrounded by granite benches. Brick pavers engraved with the names of fallen workers are available for purchase at $125 each. Anyone may purchase a paver to commemorate a family member or friend who lost their life to their job.
The first brick was dedicated by Bricklayers (BAC) President John Flynn to BAC member Louis Mitchell, who died in 2007. The second was from Richard Trumka to honor his father, Frank, a Pennsylvania mine worker, who died in 1999 of black lung disease.
"[This memorial]comes from all of our desires to see that the memories of all fallen workers are forever honored and remembered by each generation of union members, leaders and activists who walk these grounds every day as they have for decades, " said William Scheuerman, president of the National Labor College.
The memorial will hopefully increase awareness about work-related illness such as mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The more that people know about mesothelioma and asbestos, the more precautions that will be taken to protect future workers.
The memorial is expected to be completed in September 2009.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Your Attorney at 8:50 PM
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The Tacoma Housing Authority, a Washington state housing authority, will be putting funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to a good use. They have announced that they will use $4 million of the funds for renovation and asbestos abatement of seven housing projects that cater to low-income senior citizens and disabled citizens. The funds will also go toward the redevelopment of another 140 units.The repairs will cost approximately $2.5 million and will include new water pipes, awnings, roof repair and replacement, parking lot repair and asbestos abatement.
These funds are going to a great cause, because not only is it providing quality housing for people on a fixed income, it is also helping to prevent asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, and it is helping to stimulate the local economy by providing an estimated 150 new jobs.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by L.Vaughn at 8:19 AM
Thursday, April 23, 2009
ARI Technologies, Inc. has revealed a new process known as thermochemical conversion which could help to ensure a greater amount of safety during asbestos removal. According to ARI, the use of their thermochemical conversion technology (TCCT) completely destroys asbestos and PCBs and turns them into an often recyclable rock-like product.
According to Dale Timmons, the President of ARI Technologies, the process of TCCT involves using heat and chemicals on a rotary hearth to convert the asbestos into volcanic materials. The new substance that is formed can often be used as new construction materials.
Currently, discussions are being held concerning the use of TCCT in Ambler Borough, Whitpain and Upper Dublin townships in Pennsylvania to help rid the communities of their estimated 3 million tons of asbestos. The handling of the asbestos would be inside an air-locked structure which would be built over the contaminated area. The company is required to do extensive monitoring of the worksite, including air quality tests. The cost of the treatment has been estimated at $135 per ton and would likely be funded by the federal government.
The TCCT process has been approved by the EPA for the destruction of asbestos, but it has not yet been giving the green light for use in the removal of asbestos within the towns.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by L.Vaughn at 9:35 AM
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Asbestos Lawyers representing students and teachers at New York's Public School 256 have filed a lawsuit against the city of Queens alleging the city has taken too long to rid the school of asbestos.The $500 million suit charges the City Education Department with ignoring for 10 years the many complaints they received expressing concern over the lead-based paint, asbestos, and mold throughout the school. The city began cleanup last August, when the building was closed for a short-time so crews could remove some of the hazardous conditions.
The school, which serves special needs students from kindergarten through 5th grades, reopened in the fall. Administrators have indicated that more funding will be allocated for cleanup and repairs.
Those named in the suit believe that exposure to the toxic environment has caused health damages that cannot be undone.
Exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma and other illnesses. Feel free to explore our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, and your legal options.
NY Students File Suit
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Your Attorney at 3:06 PM
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Mesothelioma has often been associated with blue collar working men. A recent story from the UK has proving that it's not just Navy shipyard workers and construction laborers who have to fear this deadly disease at their job. Carole Hagedorn, a 58- year-old high school languages teacher was diagnosed with mesothelioma after teaching in asbestos riddled schools for 30 years. In what could possibly the last years of her life, Hagedorn is making her voice heard and bringing awareness to the atrocity of asbestos exposure in schools.Many of the schools in the UK were built to last twenty years, but many are still operating without full repairs 30 to 40 years later. As buildings deteriorate, exposure to asbestos that was used for wall or pipe insulation greatly increases. In the last 25 years, at least 178 teachers in the UK have died from mesothelioma. Countless other teachers and students have possibly been exposed. Since mesothelioma can take 20 to 30 years to form, it will be unknown for quite some time if any children have been affected.
We can only hope that this new awareness to the dangers of asbestos in schools can bring about new policies for change and that both teachers and students alike can attend a classroom free of the dangers of asbestos and mesothelioma.
Labels: Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Your Attorney at 8:00 PM
Friday, April 17, 2009
A Senate bill that was approved with a vote of 20 to 11 will change the establish standards regarding the amount of a plaintiff's asbestos exposure and requirement to prove that the dose was sufficient enough to cause mesothelioma. Senate bill 1123 will require that the burden of proof lay with the defendant to prove that limited exposure to asbestos attributable to the defendant did not cause mesothelioma.
In support of this bill are labor unions and trial lawyers who are fighting to increase the rights of workers who have been exposed to asbestos and for those who have developed mesothelioma. Before the bill was passed, it was necessary for the plaintiff to prove both exposure and to prove that the amount of exposure was sufficient to be a factor in causing mesothelioma.
Labels: Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by L.Vaughn at 10:51 AM
Thursday, April 16, 2009
In the UK, a West Midlands company director Robert Lee Lavender was ordered to pay approximately $28,000 in fines for removing asbestos without the proper qualifications. Lavender allowed his employees to be exposed directly to asbestos fibers which could put them at risk for mesothelioma or asbestosis. Since it was a popular building material from the 1940s to the late 1970s, many buildings across the United States that were erected during that time still contain asbestos. Because of the dangers that asbestos presents, many states have enacted asbestos notice and removal laws that affect building owners when they plan to renovate or demolish a building. Asbestos removal can be very hazardous and should never be performed by untrained individuals. If your employer is asking you or other workers to participate in unlicensed asbestos removal, refuse, and contact OSHA immediately. This call can be made anonymously if you fear repercussions.
Companies across the United States are trained and licensed in asbestos removal and disposal. For a full list of authorized asbestos removal companies, please visit this state-by-state directory.
Labels: Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Your Attorney at 1:47 AM
Saturday, April 11, 2009
On Mar 26, 2009, a new Senate bill was introduced that is intended to "modernize cancer research, increase access to preventative cancer services" and "provide cancer treatment and survivorship initiatives."The 21st Century Cancer ALERT Act/Senate Bill 717 was sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, and the full text of the proposed legislation can be found here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-717.
The bill is already attracting strong support from high profile groups and individuals across the country, including Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG Foundation.
The legislation outlines the following purposes:
(1) To reauthorize the National Cancer Institute and National Cancer Program in order to enhance and improve the cancer research conducted and supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Cancer Program in order to benefit cancer patients.
(2) To recognize that with an increased understanding of cancer as more than 200 different diseases with genetic and molecular variations, there is a need for increased coordination and greater flexibility in how cancer research is conducted and coordinated in order to maximize the return the United States receives on its investment in such research.
(3) To prepare for the looming impact of an aging population of the United States and the anticipated financial burden associated with medical treatment and lost productivity, along with the toll of human suffering that accompanies a cancer diagnosis.
(4) To support the National Cancer Institute in establishing relationships and scientific consortia with an emphasis on public-private partnership development, which will further the development of advanced technologies that will improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.
To read the legislation, contact your congressman, and stay updated on the status of the bill, visit: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-717.
You may also download a PDF of the bill in its current format here: http://www.mesotheliomahelp.net/mesothelioma-cancer-research-legislation.pdf
Labels: Cancer, Mesothelioma, Patients
posted by Your Attorney at 10:02 AM
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) introduced the 21st Century Cancer Access to Life-Saving Early detection, Research and Treatment (ALERT) Act at the end of March.The bill emphasizes the urgency and need of resources towards the prevention and early detection of cancers.
The bill has received strong support from cancer foundations, physicians, and cancer survivor and 7-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong of the LiveStrong Foundation.
This bill is the first major cancer legislation introduced since the National Cancer Act of 1971. Senator Kennedy was also the author of that bill.
ALERT establishes a National Cancer Program that will focus on an "expanded, intensified, and coordinated cancer research program." The bill also allows for an increased focus on the prevention of cancer caused by occupational or environmental exposure to carcinogens.
Additional sections in the bill call for development of biomarkers for early cancer detection, support from insurance companies for patients in clinical trials, and for expansion of cancer survivorship activities.
ALERT bill's full text.
Visit our website to find out more about mesothelioma research, diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, News, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 5:13 PM
Monday, April 6, 2009
After two years in the planning, the Missouri Army National Guard armory in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, will be refurbished to include a new dining area, offices, and parking lot, as well as total removal of asbestos.The renovations will be completed in May, 2009, and will leave the building 99 percent free of asbestos.
Home to the 1140th Engineer Battalion's Headquarters Company and Forward Support Company, as well as several other units, the 1953 structure will accommodate the full-time employees in 30 newly renovated offices.
The dozens of people that enter the armory each day for assistance for receiving military benefits, will also appreciate the upgraded lighting, heating, and air-conditioning.
Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that occurs in individuals exposed to asbestos. Please explore ourwebsite for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Cleanup of Army National Guard Armory
Labels: Mesothelioma, News
posted by Your Attorney at 3:14 PM
Friday, April 3, 2009
Diagnosed with mesothelioma in 1998, Craig Kozicki and his wife have received the Volunteer of the Year award from the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation for their continued efforts to raise investment for research and their promotion at the legislative level."Craig and Shelly have been a beacon of hope, and of direct action," says the Meso Foundation Executive Director, Chris Hahn. "They have inspired countless patients and caregivers. They have inspired me personally and all of the Meso Foundation staff and volunteers as we work every day to find a cure for this cruel disease."
Featured recently by FOX Business, click here to read more about Craig's successful fight, treatment regimen, and support of other mesothelioma patients.
Labels: Family, Mesothelioma, News, Patients
posted by Your Attorney at 9:31 AM
Thursday, April 2, 2009
President Barack Obama has declared the month of April as National Cancer Control Month. In doing so he urged the people of the United States as well as medical institutions, businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to join in activities to help control cancer. Obama also stated, " ... my Administration will continue to press for increased support for research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and academic and other institutions."Mesothelioma for the most part is a preventable disease if the containment and removal of asbestos is handled properly and safely. By having an administration in place that has agreed to help raise awareness and education on cancer prevention, detection, and treatment, there stands a good chance that a higher awareness of mesothelioma and asbestos exposure will be seen.
Obama's full press release on National Cancer Control Month can be read here.
The month of April also features:
World Health Day (April 7)
National Minority Cancer Awareness Week (April 19-25)
National Volunteer Week (April 19-25)
Labels: Cancer, Mesothelioma, News
posted by L.Vaughn at 12:13 PM
Monday, March 30, 2009
Taking in beautiful vistas, stargazing, hiking and biking are all activities Silicon Valley residents may soon be able to enjoy thanks to mounting political pressure to clean up a former Air Force radar station atop Mt. Umunhum.The former Almaden Air Force Station, closed since 1980, is now a ghost town of 88 abandoned buildings contaminated with asbestos and lead paint. The Army Corps of Engineers, Representative Mike Honda and the new district general manager are working together to get funding from Washington to remove the buildings and to open a small visitor center.
Plans for trails and land usage are being finalized and should be released by early 2010. The goal is to open up 80 percent of the site for the public to enjoy the 3,486-foot peak towers rising above South San Jose and Los Gatos.
Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that occurs in individuals exposed to asbestos. Please explore our Website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Mount Umunhum Cleanup
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 1:14 PM
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in Detroit, Michigan has achieved another first in the research and treatment of mesothelioma, according to a March 28 announcement at the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization's annual conference. The center announced that their use of a new form of radiography allows a look at lesions caused by asbestos exposure at an earlier stage than current options.
The approach developed by Carmen Endress, M.D., FACR, Associate Professor of Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, could have a significant impact by reducing the death rate from asbestos-related diseases through early detection.
In addition to early detection, doctors could realize improved success in the treatment of asbestos-related diseases through the ability to better differentiate between scarring on the lungs and other diseases, as well as understanding the associated pain with thickening of the covering of the lungs.
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute is one of 40 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. The Institute strives to prevent, detect and eradicate all forms of cancer.
Learn more about the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute at www.karmanos.org. To find out more about mesothelioma research, please review our Website. You will find information including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Early Detection of Mesothelioma
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 11:18 AM
Friday, March 27, 2009
Students from the Dance Dynamics studio in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, performed in a fundraiser on March 7, 2009, to raise money for mesothelioma research.The money was donated to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the suffering caused by mesothelioma.
The benefit was offered to provide support for one of the dancers' father diagnosed with the disease in 2006. The studio hoped to not only bring awareness of mesothelioma to the students, but to also instill a sense of community service.
The Breath of Hope Club, an organization formed by the ill man’s daughter, which raises awareness for mesothelioma research, provided snack bar staffing and front door management services. All proceeds were donated to the cause.
Visit our website to learn more about how you can support mesothelioma research. In addition, you will find information including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Mesothelioma Dance Fundraiser
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 4:34 PM
Personalized Medicine, or theranostics, is the integration of therapeutics and diagnostics. This type of medicine follows the concept that a patient's specific characteristics, such as height, weight, gender, and age, can be used to tailor medical care, as opposed to treating all patients the same.Theranostics has moved pharmaceuticals further into the use of genetic testing to determine the correct treatment for a given disease. In the past large companies have dominated the market, but specialized companies are now beginning to play a role.
Rosetta Genomics is one such company involved in micro RNA testing. The company reported its first revenues recently, as well as demonstrating a two-fold decrease in liver cancer tumor-mass using their therapies. Another of their diagnostic tests, miRview(TM) meso, differentiates mesothelioma from other carcinomas in the lung.
With more and more companies entering the theranostics market, in the long run a lower cost of care should be realized by eliminating unnecessary and ineffective treatment.
To learn more about continued mesothelioma medical companies look through our website. You will find information including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Personalized Medicine
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 4:16 PM
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) has announced the dates for its 2009 International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma. It will be held June 25-27 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Registration is available now on the MARF website.The Symposium provides information on the latest advances in research and treatment for patients and caregivers, along with educational forums on medical topics, and information on volunteer opportunities. Recognition is also given to outstanding advocates and volunteers.
In past years, patients and caregivers have found the Symposium to be an excellent place to find support among others who are suffering from mesothelioma.
Past speakers include leaders in the field of mesothelioma treatment and research such as Dr. Robert N. Taub, Dr. Pingpank, and Dr. Anne S. Tsao.
Scholarships for Symposium registration fee, transportation, and accommodations are available for patients, family members, and caregivers.
For more information, please visit the MARF website.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 11:56 AM
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A 49 year-old mesothelioma patient, previously given 6 months to live, just received news that her tumor has shrunk by 73 percent.The mother of three from England participated in a clinical trial in Frankfurt, Germany, in a treatment known as chemoembolization. It introduces chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor area through a catheter into the lung.
The patient used the compensation she received from the Ministry of Defense in England to cover the costs of the treatments. She claimed her mesothelioma was contracted by hugging her father, a dockyard worker, as a child.
The treatments, typically used in liver cancer patients, have been used on 500 patients a year. The results have had a 60% success rate, indicating that they are able to prolong the life of 60% of the patients.
To learn more about continued mesothelioma research please look through our Website. You will find information including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
German Mesothelioma Clinical Trial
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 3:13 PM
Friday, March 20, 2009
Columbia University has announced enrollment in a Phase II clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of chemotherapy drug treatment program aimed at treating malignant pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma.
The trial will determine the effectiveness of a course of treatment combining the drugs oxaliplatin and gemcitabin in treating tumors in patinetes who have not received more than one previous course of chemotherapy.
Oxaliplatin and Gemcitabine inhibit the replication of cancer cells and previous studies have shown that there may be benefits in combing the drugs to help fight mesothelioma.
To be considered for the study, patients must be at least 18 years of age and have histologically confirmed malignant pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma which is not able to be treated surgically.
Please explore our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by L.Vaughn at 8:15 AM
Friday, March 13, 2009
Carl H. June, M.D., a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of Translational Research at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, recently led a study that generated altered immune cells that shrank, and in some cases wiped out, large tumors in mice."Based on the size of the tumors and the number of cells administered, we estimate that one mesothelin-targeted T cell was able to kill about 40 tumor cells," said Dr. June.
Clinical trials are being developed to investigate this approach in patients with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.
To learn more about this remarkable researcher, see his online bio. Also, please look through our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 10:42 AM
Thursday, March 12, 2009
In a recent study announced in February, researchers generated altered immune cells that were able to shrink -- and in some cases wipe out -- large tumors in mice.The scientific research provides a ray of hope in the fight against Mesothelioma.
"Based on the size of the tumors and the number of cells administered, we estimate that one mesothelin-targeted T cell was able to kill about 40 tumor cells," said study leader Carl H. June, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of Translational Research at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center.
"This finding indicates that small doses of these cells may have potential in treating patients with large tumors," Dr. June said in a press release.
Clinical trials are being developed to investigate this approach in patients with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.
Please explore our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 10:35 AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Clinical trials are research studies that involve people. They are the final step in a long process that begins with research in a lab and animal testing. Many treatments used today are the result of past clinical trials. If you're interested in taking part in a clinical trial, this site walks you through the process.
In the meantime, we invite you to explore our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 10:31 AM
Sunday, March 8, 2009
After cancer treatment, many survivors want to find ways to prolong the days of relatively good health. Some patients worry that what they eat, the stress in their lives, or their exposure to chemicals may put them at risk. Cancer survivors find that this is a time when they take a good look at how they take care of themselves. This is an important start to living a healthy life.
Here is a booklet that you may find helpful. Also, please explore our website for more detailed information on Mesothelioma, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, doctors and hospitals treating the disease, and your legal options.
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 10:23 AM
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Morphotek has announced the beginning of a phase II clinical trial investigating the efficacy of the monoclonal antibody MORAb-009 for the treatment of mesothelioma. The study will evaluate progression-free survival in patients with advanced pleural mesothelioma who are being receiving MORAb-009 in combination with the standard mesothelioma treatment regimen, pemetrexed + cisplatin.Continue Reading >
Labels: Mesothelioma, Treatments
posted by Your Attorney at 7:13 PM
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